Memories of a Zen class at Loyola University tied in to a "Mindfulness" Workshop for Mental Health Professionals.

Public Domain Pic: Ben Wren dancing with Zen Class outside at Loyola University New Orleans next to Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church

Quiet pervades our setting.
We're sitting on a hill.
Our breaths are surely getting
Thoughts to slowly still.

Streetcar clangs are heard
On St. Charles Avenue
No one says a word
Close to Audubon Zoo

Nearby Touchdown Jesus stands
And shadows our upper frames
The goal of no goal lands
Emptying our names.

Then “Big Bird” crashes the wood
To signify a beginning and an end
Time to get up is understood
Kinhin promenade – ascend!

I took Zen I and Zen II classes as electives when I was a senior at Loyola University. The late Fr. Ben Wren, SJ, (“Big Bird”) who had a tall stature and been a Jesuit priest – the same order as our current Pope Francis – was our instructor. I still incorporate some of the prayer techniques I learned in the class for my own daily prayer time reading, reflection and quiet time.

To say that he was a different kind of teacher is a strong understatement! As he would note to anyone who wanted a better understanding of life beyond the delusions which beset all of us at one time or another, “You sound like you need a 'zenema' to clear out your mess!" One particular area that Fr. Wren helped me to sort out was very much in sync with what Jesus once noted as, “The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand;” not to focus so much on the past or the future but on the here and now.

When we did meet in a class room, there were no chairs or desks – only an empty classroom with pillows on the floor for when we did zazen. As noted in the beginning poem about the class, sometimes we would meet outside on the grass area with a Sacred Heart of Jesus statue found on the elevated area known as the “horseshoe,” between the Most Holy Name of Jesus Catholic Church and Thomas Hall, where the Jesuits residence was located.

Usually after zazen and kinhin - “walking meditation," we would also do some Tai Chi moves in quiet or, many times, to the instrumental sound of Pachelbel Canon in D! You can imagine the sight of 25 – 30 students dancing in full view of drivers and streetcar patrons nearby on St. Charles Avenue. Many times, we would do fun Israeli dances to the tune of “Port Said” or other songs!

Through the class, it was so neat to also learn about so many facets to Japenese and other cultures, including haiku painting, which we did. Besides reading 5 books per class and pledging to do zazen daily, we were asked at the end of the semester to do the hardest thing: give ourselves a grade!

I'm pondering some of these college memories, as I'm blessed to be attending an upcoming clinical CEU opportunity this weekend entitled, “Mindfulness: Proposed Mechanisms of Action” for Mental Health Professionals. Thay Dao Quang, M. Ed. Of the Tam Bao Meditation Hall and others will be leading this workshop at that Temple.

Okay, I admit to having a goal of obtaining 6 CEUs needed for my Social Work Profession, but the goal of no goal pervades – a “passing grade,” in humility, in order to continue my LCSW practice!

Let me end with one of Fr. Wren's quotes that sums up his emphasis on living in the NOW:
“In the stillness of Zen, we find that the present moment is pregnant with the Presence of God. Most of us, however, are guilty of committing abortion!”

Keith John Paul Horcasitas, LCSW, MHA, 1133 Knollhaven Drive, BRLA 70810, khorcasitas.yahoo.com, March 30, 2014.